Rainbow Room – What’s It All About?

Preschool in the Rainbow Room is for pre-kindergarten children, ages 4-5 years. Children can attend all 4 days each week or enroll for only one, two, or three days. Class size is limited to 18 children with 2 teachers.

While in the Rainbow Room your child will be preparing for kindergarten everyday in a multitude of ways. They will learn how to line up, put on a jacket, bring a reading list from home, recognize letters and numbers, say the Pledge of Allegiance, recognize their name in print, write their name, and more. Each Rainbow Room child grows in competence and confidence each day, which makes going to kindergarten a breeze! Special projects each year include: gardeningin our Outdoor Classroom, hatching chicken eggs, utilizing The Letter People, learning to play simple handbells, and experiencing monthly Let’s Find Out kindergarten news pamphlets from Scholastic Publishing.

Curriculum-The Creative Curriculum used at Rainbow School is a developmental approach compatible with the standards of quality outlined in accreditation. Our curriculum focuses on these goals:

  1. Social/Emotional Development (regulates own emotions and behaviors, positive relationships, participates cooperatively in group situations)
  2. Physical Development (gross motor and fine motor skills, and balance)
  3. Language Development (listening and speaking)
  4. Cognitive Development (demonstrates positive approaches to learning, learns from experiences)
  5. Literacy (demonstrates knowledge of print, alphabet, and phonemic awareness, emergent writing skills, book handling skills)
  6. Mathematics (understanding number concepts, compares and measures, shapes, and patterns)
  7. Science (knowledge of the earth and its environment, physical properties of objects, characteristics of living things)
  8. Arts (Explores visual arts, music, movement, and drama)

Learning Centers are an important element of our classroom. The content or specific activity of each center is changed monthly. Children choose which centers to work in each day and are encouraged to try all centers. The centers include:

Rainbow Room – What’s It All About?

Math and science

Dramatic play

Reading

Manipulatives

Art

Writing

Blocks

Rainbow Room – What’s It All About?

Teachers – The Rainbow Room teachers are Lisa White, who joined the staff in 2003 and has an Associates’ Degree in Early Childhood Education, and Caroline Graham who first came to us in 1996, with a Bachelor’s Degree in Psychology. Amelia McKnight is a graduate of Kansas City Art Institute and a long time teacher in our summer program, Over the Rainbow. These teachers bring a wealth of education, experience, enthusiasm, and creativity to the Rainbow Room curriculum.

Communication – We strive to partner with families in meeting the individual goals for your child. Communication is the key to making this connection. We have formal conferences with parents in the fall and spring to work together on goals for your child. Monthly newsletters and calendars will keep you informed about activities planned around the monthly theme. A daily class note will share each day’s events with you. In addition we are available by email to make communication more convenient:

Parent Involvement Opportunities

Share special knowledge, talents or family traditions

Read a story to the children

Be a room parent

Become active in PTA activities

Attend parenting classes based on Conscious Discipline